World Series of Boxing on VERSUS Network TODAY!!

Look what just came in… Great news for boxing fans. The World Series of Boxing will be broadcast on VERSUS, the cable network. The first show is TODAY, Saturday, December 4 @ 2:00 p.m. See for yourself what all the fuss is about.- MR

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: December 3, 2010

VERSUS Named U.S. Broadcast Partner for

World Series of Boxing

First WSB Show to Debut on Saturday, December 4 at 2 p.m. ET

(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) The World Series of Boxing (WSB) has announced that cable network VERSUS will be the official U.S. broadcast provider for the inaugural WSB season. Beginning Saturday, December 4, VERSUS will air 30 two-hour tape-delayed programs featuring competition from WSB Americas taking place across the organization’s four franchises including Miami, Memphis, Mexico City and Los Angeles.

Created by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) under the leadership of its President and IOC member, Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, the World Series of Boxing is a groundbreaking tournament designed to reshape the world of international boxing at both the Olympic-style and professional levels. The property is owned by AIBA in partnership with IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing company.

The regular season of WSB Americas began November 19 in Mexico City. During the regular season, each team will play each of the other teams four times (twice home and twice away). The top team from each conference, plus the best second-place team worldwide, will then enter the playoffs during April 2011. The team and individual championships will take place in May 2011 in Macau, China.

“We are extremely excited to announce VERSUS as a broadcast partner for the World Series of Boxing,” said Eric Parthen, Managing Director of WSB Americas. “Through four shows of this inaugural ground-breaking concept for the sport of boxing, we’ve witnessed thrilling action and intense competition and we are proud that we’ll be able to now demonstrate that to the passionate sports fans VERSUS caters to. Partnering with a world-class network like VERSUS will allow us to showcase WSB athletes and competition, grow our brand and expand the global impact of the WSB.”

Under terms of the deal, VERSUS will air all 24 regular season matches for the WSB Americas to determine qualification for the finals of the World Series of Boxing, in addition to the series’ four semifinal and two final matches. The first VERSUS show will air Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 2 p.m. ET and will feature the WSB Americas inaugural event between the Mexico City Guerreros and the Memphis Force. The second show of the season will air Tuesday morning, December 7 at 12 a.m. ET (or Monday evening, December 6 at 9 p.m. PT) and will feature the Miami Gallos home debut against the Los Angeles Matadors. VERSUS will air two programs per week during the course of the WSB season.

Broadcasting the bouts on behalf of VERSUS and the WSB are veteran boxing announcers Alan Massengale and former World Champion Sean O’Grady. While calling the bouts in Mexico City, O’Grady declared that he has been waiting 30 years for something like the WSB to happen in the sport of boxing.

Through four matches, the Los Angeles Matadors lead conference action with a 1-1 record and four points having won the most bouts (seven) among the four U.S. franchises. Conference action continues December 9 from Miami as the Miami Gallos host the Mexico City Guerreros.

Previously, the WSB announced that U.S. Spanish network Vme had acquired the rights to broadcast the WSB in the U.S. Hispanic market and Puerto Rico. Carriage of the WSB is the first sporting event to be broadcast by Vme on an ongoing basis. Vme began broadcasting WSB coverage on November 20 and will continue to carry weekly matches throughout the first season. The network has also created a WSB news and commentary program, Sexto Round, which is airing weekly on Thursday nights.

Televisa Deportes Network (TDN) will be broadcasting WSB events in Mexico featuring the Mexico City Guerreros. TDN is a all-sports pay-TV network with a subscription base of 23-million plus and it is owned by Televisa, the worlds largest producer of Spanish language television content.

About VERSUS

VERSUS prides itself on super-serving passionate sports fans across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand, VERSUS HD and VERSUS 3D). Now in more than 75 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the National Hockey League (NHL), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Bull Riders (PBR). VERSUS also airs NASCAR, NBA, UFC, college football and college basketball programming. The network is home to the best outdoor programming on television and airs original programs not available anywhere else, including The T.Ocho Show. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About World Series of Boxing Americas

The World Series of Boxing is a global sports league created by the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) to reunite the broader boxing world and its grassroots foundation, provide a bridge between Olympic boxing and professional boxing, and grow the sport’s fan base in the United States and throughout the world.

World Series of Boxing Americas
Kevin Neuendorf
Communcations Director

2 Responses

Wow….what great fights! I enjoyed every one of them. Lot’s of punches thrown. Great technique and adherence to the fundamentals. I hope this catches on. VS is a great network and I hope they continue to carry the series.

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